Lib Dems back licensing of builders and planning reform for SMEs

By Danny BallPublished On: July 22nd, 2026Categories: News, Top Stories

The Liberal Democrats’ housing spokesperson Gideon Amos has backed calls to introduce a licensing scheme for building companies and suggested small builders should be allowed to construct a limited number of homes without requiring planning permission.

Speaking on the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) Build Up From the Basement podcast, the Tiverton and Wellington MP said he was exploring proposals to extend permitted development rights to allow SME builders to deliver a small number of homes without going through the full planning system.

Amos, a chartered architect and former town planner, said the approach could help unlock housing delivery while maintaining building standards.

“Why not be able to build a couple of houses without paying permission, provided you stick within the same kind of rules,” he said.

“I’d be really interested in exploring how we can free up a whole sector from planning control. They can still meet the same standards. If there’s an infrastructure levy to pay, they could pay the levy.”

Liberal Democrats consider builder licensing proposals

Amos also confirmed he is considering whether the Liberal Democrats should adopt the FMB’s proposal to introduce mandatory licensing for building companies, aimed at tackling rogue traders and improving consumer protection.

He said: “We all come across people who’ve been let down by cowboy builders — those who close down a company on Friday and open a new one on Monday.

“I’m actively looking at whether the Liberal Democrats could incorporate that as our policy.”

According to FMB research, rogue builders have cost consumers £14.3 billion over the past five years, while the wider economy is estimated to lose £11.2 billion annually as one in five homeowners are discouraged from undertaking domestic building work.

Construction skills and housing delivery in focus

Amos also criticised the UK’s construction skills system, highlighting that more than £3 billion of Apprenticeship Levy funding was returned to the Treasury unused between 2020 and 2023.

He also pointed to the departure of around 200,000 EU construction workers since 2019.

“If that doesn’t help to underline what a disaster Brexit has been for our country, I don’t know what does,” he said.

Discussing recruitment into construction, Amos said the industry needed to do more to promote career opportunities, highlighting major projects including Hinkley Point and the Agratas battery factory near his constituency.

He also called for greater support for councils to deliver social housing and unlock stalled developments, arguing that increasing planning approvals alone would not resolve the housing shortage while thousands of consented homes remain unbuilt.

FMB welcomes support for licensing

FMB chief executive Brian Berry welcomed Amos’s comments, saying the organisation’s campaign for licensing was gathering momentum.

Berry said: “It’s very encouraging that the Liberal Democrats are taking the problem of rogue builders seriously. It was brilliant to have Gideon on the podcast as well as seeing him at our recent licencing event in Parliament.

“A staggering £14.3 billion has been lost to cowboy builders over the last five years and behind every statistic are homeowners left with homes that are half-finished and families out of pocket with nowhere to turn.

“Licensing building companies is the single biggest step the Government could take to protect consumers and back reputable small builders who are the backbone of the construction sector.”